New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani sparked widespread controversy after commenting on the Egypt vs Argentina match, which the latter won (3-2) amid controversial refereeing incidents.
Egypt's national team bid farewell to the 2026 World Cup from the round of 16, with a defeat to the Argentina national team, three goals to two, in the match that brought the two teams together, Tuesday evening, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
Although Egypt scored two clean goals, Argentina made a strong comeback in the last 20 minutes of the match to win 3-2, and that loss was so shocking that many viewers widely claimed that the World Cup was "rigged".
Zohran Mamdani: Egypt was robbed against Argentina
According to what was reported by the British newspaper "Mirror" in its edition specializing in American affairs, Zohran Mamdani, the mayor of New York, commented on the behind-the-scenes of the Egypt and Argentina match.
And in his speech in front of a crowd of people about implementing a new program to speed up buses, in the state of New York, he could not, when speaking to a football fan, but point to Egypt's painful loss in the round of 16.
Mamdani began his speech by saying: "If you take the bus to work, time accumulates quickly, within six months, you will save 24 hours of your time on the bus, and by the end of the year, you will have saved more than two days of commuting time".
And he continued: "This means having breakfast with your family, and it means having enough time to discuss shooting decisions in your child's little league baseball game, and it also means returning home at bedtime".
Then he added: "This means agreeing with your friends that Egypt was robbed of the match yesterday, and most importantly of all, it means returning time to the residents of New York who do not have enough of it".
The Egyptian Football Association published a statement on social media sites that read as follows:
"The Egyptian Football Association cannot remain silent regarding the refereeing decisions we witnessed during the match against Argentina, in addition to the suboptimal use of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology".
